Contest Begun: March 20th 2010
Contest Closed: May 20th 2010

Contest Closed!

Thank you to all that contributed!

Winner:

<news:[Elftown Drabble Contest@wiki] 2010 Winner!>

'Ya know, this life thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Consider this quote, “life is suffering”. I know, that’s too broad. Maybe it aughta be, “to live is to suffer” ‘cause frankly ladies and gents, name one person who has lived and who hasn’t suffered at one point or another. It’s a fact of life. There will be highs and lows. Being a pessimist, a Debby Downer and all sorts of unpleasant to converse with, I’d argue, that to bring a child into this world is to doom it to suffering. Ipso facto, our parents are assholes. Don’t have kids.' By: [NOOOPE]

Congratulations [NOOOPE]

Please place your entries here, along with your word count. Be sure to check that your entry fits the rules of the Elftown Drabble Contest and follows the theme: Life.

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1. By [windowframe] (105 words)
The tree outside my windowpane has grown throughout the years, weathering well the seasons. At times lush and green, later covered in sweet fruit, later still it shines with blazing golden glory, which, eventually, dejectedly fades. And, after a short time of forlornly waving its barren branches – even then lent a certain beauty by the momentary crystal snow – once again bursts into its former finery. And I have changed with it; once baby, once boy, once young man, and now an old man. But unlike it, I shall never return to the seasons of my youth. My time’s spent - my winter’s evermore.

2. By [Akayume] (102 words)
Feeling sunshine on your shoulders or the cool grass of spring beneath your feet… These are the simplest pleasures of living life on this earth. The breath of a loved one against your neck as they sleep in your arms, or the joy of an infant wrapping their tiny little fist around your one, comparatively large finger is why we wake and pump blood through our veins. Life is not the awards we win, or the medals we brandish, but is instead the small, tiny pleasures and experiences that for some strange reason, stay with us for as long as we live.

3. By [wicked fae mage] (101 words)
Day to day we see time wasted and everything taken for granted. The love of life comes to those who stare down at its end, wanting nothing more than to live instead of exist simply because they are dying. All of the things that never mattered like love and forgiveness become the soul of the wise. Money, and pride are left in the dust and life is exalted. Eyes are opened and appreciation touches the heart as we bargain with time for one more day. And so begins the purification, the spiritual catharsis at the beginning of the end of life.

4. By [itoe] (100 words)
The minutes stretched on as I waited for the medics to treat those more seriously wounded than I was. What if I didn’t make it? Had my life been worth it? Had I made the right choice? When I was younger, I had vowed to make something of my life. I wanted to prove that I belonged here, that I was worth something, and that my people were worth something. I hoped I succeeded. If I survived this, I hoped to see that my life inspires those younger and worse off than me to change their lives for the better.

5. By [NOOOPE] (102 words)
Ya know, this life thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Consider this quote, “life is suffering”. I know, that’s too broad. Maybe it aughta be, “to live is to suffer” ‘cause frankly ladies and gents, name one person who has lived and who hasn’t suffered at one point or another. It’s a fact of life. There will be highs and lows. Being a pessimist, a Debby Downer and all sorts of unpleasant to converse with, I’d argue, that to bring a child into this world is to doom it to suffering. Ipso facto, our parents are assholes. Don’t have kids.

6. By [Evolution X] (102 word)
Life is simple, life is basic, life is a quirk of nature that keeps the meat fresh; you are born, you mature, you hunt, you kill, you desire, you take, you probably die somewhere between these motions. And that’s life. Now living, living is a completely different kettle of fish. Living goes on past life, people are “living on” well past death in music or theatre. You can earn a living, you could be living to the extreme or even not be living at all; with living you gain judgement. Only through living can you look on the bright side of life.

7. By [Alexi Ice] (104 Word)
‘S funny how much you don’t know when you’re young. You don’t get how to hold a hand properly and I did not get how fragile things could be. When I met you I was young and I held your heart in my clammy hand and I took you for granted and I made you cry. ‘S funny how much things tend to suck when you grow up. How when I finally got that skin felt so soft and warm and smooth I had already lost you to another. ‘S funny that as I held you, I didn’t know I was stealing your life.

8. By [Eyden13] (101 Words)
The world cries, dies, breathes, loves, and feels. The journey that’s called life is a roller coaster that never ends, till the very last breath you take, when your heart makes it last beat: bump, bump, bump.. bump… bump …… bump. In those last minutes you replay life in an instant. What will you see? Will it be your first kiss, twenty first birthday, wedding, death of someone close, or the moment you had an epiphany of pure rapture. It’ll be the moments of life that’s cherished the most, the ones that caused you to feel the most pain, it’s be life. 

9. By [Falx] (102 words)
It is the way of that which lives to die. That is the nature of all living things. Yet, you say that you mourn for the dead. Do you not know that life is pain? Do you not understand that all things that live do so at the expense of something else? Why then do you mourn for those who have passed beyond this pain to eternal rest? Rejoice instead for the life that is lost, for from this life new life shall arise. Rejoice in the life that has etched your own with laughter, tears, and joy, and mourn no more.

10. By [Flisky] (102 words)
A slash of green as the frog leaps for the fly. It is a near miss, but that small distance is enough to see that this female has more precious time to lay her eggs, hatch the larvae, and create more of her species. For the frog, it means something else. Less time until it succumbs to the starvation that may mean death. It is that simple. The frog hops away, in search of an easier target. The fly continues on its path, searching for a place for her young. A near miss, another chance, the day continues and life goes on.

11. [*Phoenix*] (104 words)
Tap. Tap. Tap. Crack. The crack grew wider and wider until, finally, the egg crashed open into many pieces. The tiny dragon squinted in the new world and bright light. She shook some shell off her head and began to gingerly crawl out of the shell. Her pretty blue scales and gold underbelly shined in the sun that filtered its way through the trees to the forest below. The baby dragon stretched its wings full out and twisted its head to stare at them. She shook off the slime and took off and flew up through the trees into a life of glorious dragons. 

12. [9jlriexqk,ktpk] (102 words)

Life is about survival. It is about finding your place, your sanctuary. It is about making those connections, and living for the now, not living in the past. There is no point in holding onto regrets and 'what might have been's ' for they only tear you down. Don't let the past become your tomb. Life is for living, for grasping opportunities, and taking a long, deep breath and taking stock of all the good that is already in your life. Singular, constant, We fight tooth and claw to live. For in the end, it is the survival of the fittest.

13. [Duke Devlin] (102 words)

“What do you want to do?” “Choose the subjects carefully,” “Choose a course that reflects what you want to do in life,” “If you don't pass this, you'll fail the year,” “What made you decide to work in this industry?” “I'm sorry, we can't give you a pay-rise right now,” “Would you mind staying late?” “Honey, do you have to work today?” - Pause. A tug on the sleeve, a shining upturned face; “Daddy look, a rainbow!” Think, when did life cease to be about sunshine, rainbows, lollipops, smiles and jumping in puddles?

14. [Linderel] (104 words)

Life. Four letters. One syllable. Quite a bit like love, actually. They even almost rhyme. Almost, but not quite. Fancy that. What’s life, if not love? You could say that without love there’d be no life, but whether or not that is the case is for each of us to decide. We walk around, we travel this green Earth and we hate and kill and destroy and hurt everyone else. We forget life. We forget the budding trees, the thunder, the earth. Oh, the earth. It’s so full of life. Full of tiny miracles. Be silent for a moment – let nature do the talking.




-Elftown Drabble Contest